Over the years, British alt-rock group Oasis has gained almost as much acclaim for its members’ inflated egos as it has for its music.

They have repeatedly proclaimed that they believe Oasis to be the world’s best band and have no restraint in openly expressing their dislike for other musicians’ work, citing it as inferior to their own.

That’s not to say that Oasis hasn’t earned some serious bragging rights.

The band’s 1995 album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? sold 25 million copies worldwide, and Oasis is widely regarded as the best band to come out of Britain in recent decades.

However, with Dig Out Your Soul, the seventh studio release, it appears that brothers and bandmates Liam and Noel Gallagher have grown to rely overly much on their superstar status.

Most of the tracks on Dig Out Your Soul feature a sound that is distinctly British and similar to that of many British-influenced American bands such as Kings of Leon or The Killers.

This time around, however, Oasis seems to have lost much of its originality and resorts, rather unsuccessfully, to attempting to replicate the favorite band of a bygone era, the Beatles.

You can expect to hear a great number of crunching, grinding guitars, solid mid-tempo drums and yearning vocals that just barely remain on key.

While this formula is carried out cleverly enough, it is applied to virtually every song and makes many tracks run together in a discordant mash-up.

By the time four songs have come and gone, one can’t help but think that the album should be over.

This is not helped by the fact that there are very few words per chord.

It causes the listener to lose interest in the lyrics, which is unfortunate because they are, for the most part, well written.

This is not to say that the album is not without its high points.

The heavy rocking “Bag It Up” actually kicks the album off to an excellent start and “To Be Where There’s Life” is a great throwback to George Harrison’s Indian influenced Beatles era.

The drums on “Falling Down” also break the cycle of straightforward beats that kept the monotony of the album present until that point.

Given Oasis’ discography in the 1990s, there is no doubt that the band has the potential to once again make music of variety and substance that doesn’t slow down time.

Such minimalist masterpieces such as “Wonderwall” are proof of this.

It’s very clear though that Oasis is in desperate need of a fresh sound and some new influences.